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fire, rioters fighting cops in the streets. It seemed to amuse him. "They could be outsiders," he went on. "Some new force intruding on my ground out of ignorance and stupidity. Smugglers. Mercenaries. There is no end to the possibility."
    "So we got to find Arn." Deacon was getting impatient. "What about the Corolla?"
    "That is no problem. I will inform Castel to report it stolen and file with the insurance in the morning. We have done this before."
    "OK." Deacon hacked and coughed. "Jacobo might have a line on these guys, but I don't want to talk to him about it tonight. He'll just freak out and try to use it to jack up his price. I'll get with my bondsman to see if Arn got popped by Oakland." He turned to me. "If he did, his bail comes out of your end and count yourself lucky. Better hope they weren't cops or you're gonna need a new partner – if you still got a job. We got to see about that."
    "He wouldn't say anything, Deke."
    "I don't think so neither, but we can't take the chance." He shook his head. "Arn could get us all jammed on RICO charges if he shoots off his mouth and then everything turns to shit. I hope it don't come to that, OK? This could be a lot of nothing."
    I thought I was going to get sick again. If Arn had been arrested, they were going to bail him out and then get rid of him in case he tried to cut a deal with the cops. There was nothing I could do to stop it and I was just hanging by a thread myself.
    If he had been arrested.
    "Maybe it's not so bad," Deacon said. "Meanwhile, I got to shut down until I know what the hell is going on and you better hope we don't miss the deadline. I'll get Miguel and Buster to move the stock to some of the other lots just in case the feds are sniffing around. Lucky for you, most of it's already gone. We'll leave the Lexus where it is for now. Can't risk moving it tonight."
    "OK," I said.
    "Yeah. OK."
    I stared at my shoes, playing the pitiful little girl begging for forgiveness. It was easy to do. Most of his other drivers would've bailed in my position, but I owed him a lot and I had nowhere else to go. No money to run. Nobody else but Deacon. I knew he'd protect me if he could, no matter what he said in front of Heberto, but he was locked in by the situation and so was I. If the cops had busted Arn, I was a liability, but even if they hadn't, Heberto wanted to cut me loose and Deacon had to keep things smooth with Heberto. The more I thought about it, the worse it got.
    "What do you want me to do?" I asked,
    "Nothing," Deacon said. "I want you to fucking vanish. Grab your shit and stay at a motel for a couple days. Take a vacation. Disappear. I don't want you anywhere around here or the warehouse or anyplace they can find you. Got it? Especially not at home. Not until we find out who these guys were and what happened to Arn. Then we'll see what's what."
    "OK." My voice broke a little. Just enough.
    "Now get out of here – and let me know where you're staying."
    "I'm sorry, Deke," I said. "I was just trying to make our quota."
    "I know." He softened a touch. "Shit happens. That's all."
    He had bought my pitiful act. Maybe. I stood up and was getting ready to leave when someone pounded on the door. Three hard bangs made me jump. Deacon glanced at Heberto and they didn't look too thrilled.
    "Stay put for a while," Deacon told me. "Everything's business as usual, understand? Never been better. And don't say a goddamn thing about the Lexus. Every time there's a problem, he tries to Jew us on his cut."
    "Emma should leave," Heberto said.
    "Let her stay for a couple minutes. The bastard's got the hots for her, so maybe she'll distract him from ripping us off a little. Besides, if he heard about it already, maybe he'll let something slip when he sees her hanging around. We got to feel this bastard out."
    Heberto shrugged, then sat down again, clasping his hands on his stomach and staring at me with a little smile. Deacon nodded and I opened the door.
    Surprise, surprise